


Year One

by tod_von_mii



Series: Raison d'être [5]
Category: Elisabeth - Levay/Kunze
Genre: F/M, Sisi is a fanfic writer too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:02:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25042093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tod_von_mii/pseuds/tod_von_mii
Summary: Scenes from the first year of Sisi's reign that illuminate the benefits of cultivating a good relationship with your black prince.
Relationships: Elisabeth von Österreich-Ungarn | Elisabeth of Bavaria/Der Tod | Death (Elisabeth)
Series: Raison d'être [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813564
Kudos: 10





	Year One

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for references to pregnancy and sexual content, albeit nothing too graphic.

Had it been in private, the consummation of her marriage with Franz Joseph wouldn't have been the best experience of Sisi's life, but it wouldn't have been the worst experience of her life, either. Stilted and formal, maybe, but the only pain would've been physical.

But since their embrace was of public interest, history had its eyes on them! Things that should've never been analyzed were put under magnifying glasses by the watchful eyes of the court. Each sigh was subject to intense scrutiny, each caress was examined from multiple angles until there wasn't even enough room to move.

Sisi woke up to that realization, yet another reminder of how an empress was nearly always in public, and had to worry about the implications of everything she did. Would the public realize she didn't really love Franz Joseph? Did they think she was too brazen? Too proper? Or some awful thing that didn't even exist as a concept until they had decided to cook it up? The spectators would find something wrong, she feared, even if they had to fabricate it.

Being intimate with der Tod was so much simpler. They took their joyous fill of each other's bodies in complete privacy, and didn't need to answer to anybody else.

Speaking of her supernatural lover, Death had to return Sisi to life, encouraging her to focus on her breathing and holding her while she shivered and shook.

"I... I didn't know how frightened I'd become. I knew it and planned for it, and nothing frightening happened during it, yet I am frightened. With you, it was private, as it should be. With him, somehow the whole world joined us in bed."

He nodded. "You planned to the best of your abilities, but while preparing for the bigger things, you had to let smaller, more ephemeral things fall by the wayside. Having succeeded, near-misses and hidden possibilities have become your biggest concerns. Most importantly, do you regret doing it?"

"No." She sniffed. "I want to be a heroine. And at least you taught me how good lovemaking can be."

He smiled diamond-hard as he squeezed her shoulder. "Good. Remembering your purpose can sustain you until you fulfill it."

(If that wasn't the most vindicating thing he had heard in a while...)

She almost shivered and shook through the family breakfast, and the only reason nobody noticed was because der Tod was behind her, holding her shoulders securely. During gaps in conversation, in pleasantly numbing activity, he crooned to her in a low and steady voice, reminding her this torment would pass.

"Der letzte Tanz, der letzte Tanz, gehört allein nur mir... Den letzten Tanz, den letzten Tanz, tanz ich allein mit dir..."

He apparently realized that during boring moments, her attention automatically turned to him, so he liked to manifest in the general direction of where she was supposed to be looking. That way, less people accused her of not looking alive.

(She was looking at Death, but they didn't need to know that.)

* * *

It took a month until she and Franz Joseph successfully conceived, and she doubted she would've been able to endure if she hadn't been able to lie back and think of der Tod. Unfortunately, if Sisi became too enthusiastic a participant, she risked crying out the wrong name, so it was easier for her to wait until Franz Joseph was safely asleep, then handle the feelings from her fantasy by herself.

Der Tod praised her beauty as the months went on, even when she could hardly stand to look at herself, and when she became oddly needy, he gladly relieved the tension. His cool fingers against her aching, swollen flesh could do no wrong.

"In addition to being alive, you have another life inside you. I should call you Life," der Tod quipped as he massaged her one night.

"Mmhmm," Elisabeth responded - she was feeling better, but was still in pain. "It's a shame that I can only make those sorts of jokes with you, and perhaps your- your-"

"Die Todesengel. My assistants." He smiled. "They think it's very funny that I am intimate with you."

She startled, looked around. "What? Why?"

"I am, as you once said, a handsome grim reaper. My engaging in activities known to create life is like a fire spirit going for a swim. But we are both more than our occupations, _Kaiserin_." Der Tod winked at her. "And the Kaiser, he seems to be less than his."

"Oh!" Sisi made a sound in between a gasp and a hiccough. "It's true, but you shouldn't say it."

In response, he simply chuckled and shrugged, and she found she couldn't stay cross with him. "Well, just make sure he doesn't hear it," she conceded.

* * *

To her surprise, Sisi was standing in what appeared to be a meadow in the evening, with der Tod by her side. "I suspect you'll appreciate this. Your body can do all the work it has to do, and you'll look very stoic, but I've pulled your mind here, where you don't have to suffer needlessly. I'll return you to your plane of existence when the process is over."

Elisabeth looked around, then looked down, surprised to see her stomach looked like it had before the pregnancy. "I... Thank you. And thank you for restoring my appearance."

"My dear Sisi, that's not my doing," der Tod said with a warm smile. "This plane is influenced by thoughts. You will look like whatever you see yourself as."

"Oh, that's wonderful. I missed feeling like this." She looked down at her feet, something she hadn't been able to do much of in the waking world. "But what if I... die... in childbirth?"

He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yes, it's possible. In that case, you'd have a head start, since you are here with me. But tell me, do you know Greek mythology? Specifically, the tale of Leda and the Swan?"

"I cannot say I do."

"Zeus, being his usual lustful self, took a fancy to the mortal woman Leda. She also happened to be his great-granddaughter, but that's beside the point. He came to her in the form of a swan, and the resulting children were born from eggs she laid. However, she also had relations with her mortal husband, and the offspring from that union were born normally."

"That's interesting, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"I was just telling you a slightly apropos story to pass the time." His eyes suddenly seemed brighter, resembling the vivid green of clover in the sun. "Also, you now have a baby girl."

Sisi's jaw dropped. "What?"

Der Tod couldn't help but laugh. "Time passes differently here. And I am as attuned to the beginning of life as I am to its end." He gently pushed her jaw back into place. "Say hello to her for me, won't you?"

* * *

Usually, der Tod met the world wearing an unflappable smirk, fitting someone who held the power of life and death over all of humanity. But now his face was twisted into a furious mask, all bared teeth and glaring eyes, looking like he would summon the other three Horsemen at any minute. "You have maternal instincts, like countless other mothers before you. You are inexperienced, that much is true, but she is _your_ child."

Sisi leaned into der Tod, holding onto him as if his ability to be intimidating would seep into her skin. "Do you really think she's doing it out of concern for little Sophie's welfare, or does she just hate me because she is suspicious of me?"

"That's the worst part. She genuinely wants what is best for your daughter, her granddaughter, and thinks this is the right way to go about it." Now he sounded less angry and more stern. "If she were a heartless bitch, as opposed to a misguided grandmother, she could be frightened into submission. But her conviction will endure as long as her love will."

She looked down, frowning. "You're right."

He idly ran a finger over her lips. "And I must remind you, if you really don't want to do this anymore, you may leave your quest. I will not judge you for it. One kiss here, and all this fighting will be over."

"No!" she shouted with a vehemence that surprised even herself. "I promised you I'd be your champion, your knight, and I can't run into your arms the first time a monster attacks me!" A few deep breaths later, she looked up at him. "I cannot sway her heart or tell others of my experience, even anonymously, my situation is unique enough that any reader will know it is me. But I can sway the hearts of others. Titania, queen of the fairies, didn't want to give up her changeling for her husband's army..."

He grinned, eyes bright with surprise. "In the beginning, there was the word, as well as its power."

Vengeance is the last refuge of the tormented, so when even the courtiers had read the oddly familiar Fairy Queen's Lament and began making connections they may have otherwise wouldn't, Sophie the elder became less popular. Not that she wavered from her decision, but she certainly suffered for it.

Sisi supposed she had to take comfort wherever she could get it.


End file.
